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Shenzu waved his hands. "I'm sorry. Is this a plan? Because I'm not following you."
"We're going to booby-trap the porch of the tower," said Mazer. "We take apart the shocker rounds, wire the electrodes into a chain, and set them on the porch. As soon as the next group of Formics have filled up their goo guns, we electrify the porch and stun them all at once. Then we rush in, finish them off and take a goo gun."
Shenzu looked at them each in turn. "Seems like a lot of work for a single goo gun."
"It's the safest option," said Wit.
"Assuming we don't electrocute ourselves in the process," said Mazer.
They waited until the four transports had come and gone; then Mazer flew them up to the peak of the mountain and hovered over the porch of the tower. Wit and Shenzu hopped out, and Wit handed Shenzu the disassembled shocker round.
"Walk over there and set the electrodes facedown on the surface. Then hold up the base and push your finger into this groove until you feel the pins break."
"What are you going to do?" asked Shenzu.
"Put my hand on the surface," said Wit. "If it shocks me, throw the base over the side immediately. Don't hesitate. And don't touch the electrodes."
"I'll be standing on the surface. Won't it shock me, too?"
"You have rubber soles. You should be fine."
"Should?" said Shenzu. "I need better than a 'should.'"
"Fine. I one-hundred-percent guarantee you won't get shocked."
Shenzu frowned.
"Time is of the essence, Shenzu."
Shenzu walked to the far side of the porch and got into position. Wit bent his knees, placed his palm flat on the floor of the porch, and nodded for Shenzu to proceed.
A moment later, Wit was falling onto his back and Shenzu was throwing the whole contraption over the side. When they climbed back into the aircraft, Mazer said, "I thought you were going to set it on low."
"I did," said Wit.
They found a small clearing nearby surrounded by dense jungle. Mazer landed the Goshawk, and they got to work. It took most of the night to build the chain, with each of them helping in some capacity. When they finished it was several hours before dawn.
Mazer flew them up to the tower. Shenzu held the flashlight while Wit carefully unspooled the wire and laid the chain around the inner edge of the porch, like the band of the hat's brim. Then they flew to the base of the mountain and waited.
Not long after dawn, the first transport alighted on the porch of the tower. Wit, Mazer, and Shenzu watched the satellite feed. As soon as the first few Formics had filled their goo tanks, Wit hit the transmitter. On screen the Formics began to twitch and fall and convulse and die.
CHAPTER 10
Shield
The lobster was excellent, and the creamy burrata as an accompaniment was inspired, but Lem was finding it hard to enjoy either. Across from him, inside their private booth at La Bella Luna, one of the more expensive restaurants on the east side of Imbrium, Norja Ramdakan was attacking his pasta like a man coming off a three-day fast.
"Seventeen percent," Ramdakan said. He stabbed his fusilli with his fork and shoved the noodles into his mouth. "Our stock is down seventeen percent in a single day." He shook his head, disgusted.
As Father's chief financial adviser, Ramdakan was one of the most influential members of the Board. He had been with the company since the beginning, and his iron grip on its purse strings was legendary. He had even flown with Father in the early days, back when Father had captained a small digger in the Belt and made ends meet scraping away at surface rock. Lem couldn't imagine it. Sitting in a booth with Ramdakan for a single meal was bad enough. Living with him in a cramped ship for months on end would be intolerable.
"The company is resilient, Norja," said Lem.
"The stock will rebound."
Ramdakan wiped a dollop of tomato ragout from the corner of his mouth. "How, Lem? Do you have any idea how much capital we sunk into the Vanguard drones? Any idea whatsoever?"
Lem knew exactly how much had been invested--down to the decimal place--but he dared not admit that to Ramdakan. That might lead to questions Lem didn't want to answer. Like who in Father's office had given him the information. It wouldn't be difficult to figure that out--several people had seen Lem talking to Despoina that day. And the two of them had spent a considerable amount of time together in the days since. Lem had been careful to keep their interactions out of the public eye, but that didn't necessarily mean their meetings had gone unnoticed.
